


Ocean Eyes (And Other Wonderful Things)

by Auroranym



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Courtesy of Paul Stamets, F/F, Flirting, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, Rating May Change, References to Shakespeare, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-28
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-07 22:01:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12850398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Auroranym/pseuds/Auroranym
Summary: Tora Ziyal has a stay on the USS Discovery, and on that ship, she finds a young woman named Sylvia Tilly. Friendship progresses to love, and things get better.





	1. A New Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When black alert ends, Sylvia finds a dying alien girl on the floor of the spore chamber.

Her mother always told her that breathing was important. "It's the most helpful skill you can learn in the long run," she would say. "It can help you calm down even in the most stressful situations."

Tilly never properly learned how to breathe, despite what her mother had told her. She supposes that's why she almost panicked when they were pulled out of black alert. There was a young woman bleeding on the floor in the chamber, and to top it all off, she didn't seem to be a species that she recognized.

She fumbles for the communicator, unable to take her eyes off of the dying alien.

"Tilly to Sickbay," she called, once she has her hand on the button. "We have a medical emergency in engineering."

"Hold tight, I'll be there in a moment." Doctor Culber replied. It occurs to her a moment later that she probably should have informed him that it wasn't Stamets who was injured  
Tilly turned her attention back to the woman and focused on getting the door open. Her blood was starting to pool around her in the square room.

She had just gotten the door open when Doctor Culber beamed in. He looked around for the injured party before his eyes landed on the woman. His eyebrows shot up and he looked at Tilly questioningly before getting to work. 

He knelt down next to her as he ran a medical tricorder over the wound on her chest. "She's crashing. I need a site to site transport now," he said into his communicator.

It only took a moment for the transporter to lock onto them. The golden glow faded and Tilly was once again alone with Stamets, who was only just now stepping out of the chamber. He didn't seem to notice when he stepped in the pool of blood as he the chamber, leaving dark blue tracks in his wake.

"She was dying," he said once he came to a complete stop. His voice had almost a dreamy quality to it. "I had to save her."

"Who is she?" Tilly asked hesitantly. "Where did she even come from?" Even now she could see that clarity was starting to come back to the man.

"I don't know. I suppose we'll have to ask her, won't we cadet?"

"I guess so," Tilly mumbled, glancing back at the blood on the floor. She hoped that she wouldn't be the one to clean that up. 

 

As she walked down the corridor with Stamets, she couldn't help but let her thoughts wander to the young alien woman. "Does this mean we have to go through first contact protocol when she wakes up?"

"I believe so, yes. We'll have to discuss it with the Captain, however. He gets the final say."

"Right, yes, of course." Tilly silently cursed herself for asking such a silly question. As they parted ways, with Stamets heading towards the Bridge and Tilly going to Sickbay, she found that it was becoming difficult to get a handle on her anxiety.

"Tilly, I'm glad to see you," Doctor Culber said as she walked into the room. "It looks like she's going to wake up soon. I figured you might want to meet her."

Tilly feels herself brighten considerably. "Can I? I mean, I know this is a big deal, of course, but I'd love to see her."

"I don't see why not," The doctor smiled. "And I'm the highest-ranking person here, so I say it's okay."

"Is it okay to wake her up? She was bleeding a lot." Tilly asked with more than a little concern.

“She’ll be okay. I healed her wound and replenished her blood supply, so now all she needs is lots of rest.” Culber reassured her.

Tilly turns when she hears a quiet moan. The doctor must hear it too because he quickly walks past her and over to the young woman.

“Hey there. It’s alright, you’re safe,” he says once she opens her eyes. “My name is Doctor Hugh Culber.”

She frowns briefly in response. “I'm Tora Ziyal. People call me Ziyal. Where am I?”

“Well, Ziyal, you’re on the USS Discovery. We’re Starfleet.”

"Starfleet..." She mumbles. "What happened? Where's my father? Where's Major Kira?"

"We don't know exactly what happened, but from what I understand you could have been pulled from the timestream. You may be from a different time from now. What year is it for you?"

"2374."

Tilly glanced at Doctor Culber, who glanced right back. This could cause problems. 

"Oh." Tilly tried to force a smile. "It's, uh, it's 2256 here." She said with a nervous laugh. "I'm Tilly, by the way. Cadet Tilly. Or Sylvia Tilly. Any of them work."

Ziyal gave a small smile in her direction. "Can I call you Sylvia?" She asked.

"Yes, yes, of course, if you want," Tilly replied, trying desperately not to stutter. 

"Then it's lovely to meet you, Sylvia," she said with a smile.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you a few questions, Ziyal." Doctor Culber said once they had been silent for a moment.

"I'll answer any I can," she said after taking a deep breath. "I'll cooperate in any way possible."

"Thank you," he smiled. It was with that that Tilly decided to take her leave. There was something about Tora Ziyal that left her feeling all warm and fuzzy. 

"This will be exciting..." Tilly mumbled to herself before smiling widely. She couldn't wait to see her again.


	2. Joining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ziyal discovers Shakespeare and Tilly passes along some news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like this chapter a lot more than the first one. A definite improvement, if you ask me.
> 
> Also I tried not to be too much of a Shakespeare nerd, but I think I failed.

After answering questions regarding things such as her race and where she came from, Ziyal had been left alone to her own devices. They gave her several PADDs to entertain her while she was on bedrest, but the one she kept going back to was the one that had Romeo and Juliet on it in the original Shakespeare. She had listened to Garak bemoan the poor writing of Shakespeare many times after reading a play that Doctor Bashir had asked him to try, but Ziyal found that she actually quite liked his work when she read it herself.

It started with Romeo and Juliet. From then on, she moved onto the sonnets. Then to Hamlet, before moving back to reread Romeo and Juliet.

She was enraptured by his work, and she could tell that this would put a treasured mark upon her soul, for his work would not be forgotten by her.

When Tilly's familiar face walked through the doors, she could hardly resist the urge to compliment her. Out of uniform and with her hair down, she was one of the prettiest things Ziyal's ever seen.

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" Ziyal teased. "Thou art more lovely and more temperate."

Ziyal watched as Tilly's cheeks flushed a deep red.

"You've, um, you've been reading Shakespeare? I'll admit that I'm not very familiar with it," Tilly said with a nervous laugh.

"I've been left alone for the most part for the past three days; I had to find some way to occupy my time," Ziyal smiled.

"Sorry I haven't visited. Things have been busy," Tilly said sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it. I know it can be busy on a starship," Ziyal said, shaking her head.

"Still. The only person you've had to talk to is Doctor Culber." Tilly wore an expression of guilt and all Ziyal wanted to do was make her feel better.

"It wasn't so bad. He was busy, sure, but he was the one who gave me the PADDs with Shakespeare on them," she replies. "It could have been a lot worse."

"Well, hopefully, you won't have to go that long without talking to someone from now on. I talked to the Captain and he arranged it so you can be roomed with me!" Tilly smiled widely, bouncing on the balls of her feet slightly. "That is, if you want to, of course! I can totally arrange for you to be roomed with someone else if you want!"

Ziyal couldn't help but giggle at Tilly's nervousness. "I'd love to be your roommate, Sylvia."

"Really? Oh, that's a relief. Some people have told me I'm annoying, and the last thing I want to do is annoy you. You're so nice and pretty and I really want you to like me." One of the things that Ziyal had come to notice about Tilly is that she often had trouble trying to stop talking. She couldn't help but find it cute.

"How could I not like you? You're wonderful," Ziyal said with a smile.

"Oh, um, thank you." Tilly's cheeks flushed and she looked down at her feet. "Are you, um, are you flirting with me?"

"Maybe." Ziyal smiled teasingly. "If you want me to stop, you only have to say the word."

"No! No, that's okay. I really don't mind. It's just that I wanted to make sure, is all." She said with a nervous laugh.

This made Ziyal smile broadly. "I'm glad to hear that."

For a moment they only smiled at each other; Tilly's was a little anxious, while Ziyal's radiated happiness.

Tilly only spoke when the silence seemed to stretch on and Ziyal's expression seemed to soften. "So, um. I talked to Doctor Culber on the way here. He said you'll probably be released later today."

"I can't wait," Ziyal beamed.

"I have to get back to work, but I'll see you tonight?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Ziyal said, her own smile widening.

With a final wave, Tilly exited the infirmary, leaving Ziyal to her thoughts.

Sylvia Tilly was unlike anyone she'd encountered, and she found it utterly charming. The way she rambled and couldn't seem to stop; how she didn't seem to have a real brain-to-mouth filter. All Ziyal knew was that she wanted to be as close to Tilly as possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate." Is from Shakespeare's 18th Sonnet. I always wanted to say that to a girl so I guess I'm living vicariously through Ziyal.

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment if you liked this!


End file.
